“Young master, sir, wake up. Wake up, young master!”
Layne blearily opened his eyes. The light inside his chambers was still suspiciously dim, with some lighter rays escaping around the edges of the heavy curtains. An indistinct silhouette passed his vision, as the curtains were cast open, the wooden curtain rings sliding over the wooden rod with a slight clatter. Dim though the morning light was, he still had to squint at the sudden illumination.
“Don’t tell me. I’ve been summoned by my father.”
“Indeed, sir. And we’ve received a message that young miss Tamrin will be honoured to join you for a day of dungeon delving and will arrive shortly after the breakfast hour.”
Layne sunk back into the bedding, looking at the ceiling.
“Sir?”
“No, it’s fine. You can inform my father that I’ll be there shortly.”
<>
A short while later Layne knocked on the door to the study. An irritability gnawed at him, along with some pangs of hunger. As always, his father knew very well that Layne was out late last night, and that he would still be tired at this time of morning. And in the same way that that’s never stopped him before, it also hasn’t stopped him now. Sometimes it felt like a form of passive-aggressive punishment. One that his father took a perverse pleasure.
“Enter,” the baron’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.
Inside the study Layne found the baron standing in front of the sanctum door, his hands on his hips and a frown on his face.
“Something the matter?” Layne asked.
Turning to face him, the Baron replied, “No, nothing I can’t resolve by my own means. You, on the other hand, need to start acting more like the young lord you are.”
Layne suppressed the urge to raise an eyebrow at that statement, as he watched his father walk to the sitting chair beside the office couch. He had seen many a young lord out on the town, and most of them behaved even worse than him if measured by his father’s ideals. Seeing his father sit down, he moved over to join him, taking a seat on the couch. Sitting down, he felt something poke him. Not wanting to give the Baron the satisfaction of seeing him in discomfort, and wrongly attributing it as a reaction to their current discussion, he ignored it and settled into the discomfort. He was an adventurer after all. What was something poking him in the butt compared to the dangers of a monster fight?
So he replied with a straight face, “I’m not sure what you mean, father? Did I stay out too late again last night?”
“You know very well that you did, but that is not what I want to talk to you about today.”
“Oh? Then in which way should I act more like the young lord I am?”
Saying those words stirred something in Layne’s memory, reminding him of the girl on the beach calling him “young master Canewhold”. In fact, thinking of it now, didn’t the servant in his bedroom last night have a slight resemblance to that girl?
“Layne!” his father’s voice snapped him back to the present. “You need to pay attention when I’m talking to you! How will you ever learn to manage this estate if you can’t even pay attention to a single conversation?”
“Sorry father, I guess I’m still a bit tired from last night. It won’t happen again.”
“I hope not,” the Baron stated. “So back to the matters at hand, and there are two serious and connected ones we need to discuss here. Number one, we had the pleasure of the Highreach’s company last night. Pity you were nowhere to be found.”
Surprised Layne answered, “What? Tamrin’s family was here? There was no formal engagement scheduled for last night, was there?”
A part of Layne was relieved that he had the good fortune of missing out on the social engagement. After their dungeon expedition in the morning, he had reached his fill of Tamrin for the day. But how does it bode for your future engagement? A small part of him whispered. However, the thought was drowned out by the Baron’s next words.
“No, there wasn’t. But Lady Hariette reached out to us late in the afternoon, and though it was not completely proper, I am glad she took the initiative.”
“How so? And I’m guessing that’s how Tamrin got invited to go dungeon delving with me today, am I right?”
“Indeed. And to answer your first question, why did you not tell me that this new dungeon was created by an anomalous core?”
The question sounded an alarm in Layne’s thoughts. He didn’t know which direction the questioning would go, but he knew the Baron. The gleam of calculation in his father’s eyes was very familiar. He felt the unexplained need to protect the dungeon core, although he knew not why or from what. He could feel a mystery there, something he couldn’t explain. It should be an ordinary core, just like any other, even if it was anomalous, but he felt a draw towards it. A desire to protect it. Maybe it was the way it created a distraction at the beach, defusing the situation. And maybe it was just a crazy core and that too was a coincidence. But he was intrigued, and he wanted to find out more.
“Ah, yes. When we found the new dungeon yesterday it had seemingly created a single chamber underneath the beach. It appeared to not have been reinforced properly and subsequently collapsed.”
“Do you think you and Tamrin will be able to get to its core? It having been so newly created, it shouldn’t have many defences yet, and you are both well-levelled warriors in comparison to its fairly new status.”
“Why would we want to get to the core?” Layne felt compelled to ask, even though he felt the very same desire to find the core and look at it. See if he could unravel some of the mystery of the inquisitiveness he felt.
“Come on, son. Have your tutors not properly informed you of the dangers of anomalous dungeon cores? We have a duty to protect the island, and …”
The unspoken idea clicked in Layne’s mind as his father paused.
“… we could be the only island family in possession of a dungeon core,” Layne finished his father’s thought.
His father looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to have come to this conclusion so easily.
“Of course, that wouldn’t be the primary reason, but yes.”
The very thought made Layne uncomfortable, though. Core hunters were looked down upon, as the greedy trash they generally tended to be. Additionally, Layne had been quite well educated over the years about the integral part of dungeon cores in the balance of the world.
“But father, dungeon cores are important! They need to be protected and preserved for all the benefits they bring us. And besides, we are island lords, not common core hunters,” Layne answered with distaste.
His father turned to face him, Layne meeting his gaze unflinching.
“I know, Layne. But sometimes acting in the best interest of the populace means that we must sacrifice. Besides, the island already has an established and well-known dungeon. The loss of some random new anomalous one won’t have any impact at all. In fact, it would be a great service to the island if we can eliminate a possible threat before it endangers the rest of us here.”
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Layne could feel his hackles rise. His father’s words did make sense, considering the ignoble history of some anomalous cores, but he felt a strange protectiveness. His father hadn’t been with them at the beach yesterday. Layne had, and he hadn’t sensed any evil per se in the dungeon’s territory.
“Well, we don’t know if it truly is an anomalous core yet. Besides, I didn’t feel anything malicious from the core yesterday when we were there.”
“You didn’t feel anything malicious?” the baron questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Would that be like the Massing Stone dungeon where you felt you and Tamrin had to turn left? And then there was a spike trap? Or perhaps like the Eternal Starting dungeon where you were sure that the dungeon would drop the ruby and you ended up with two copper coins?”
“This is different, I’m sure,” Layne replied. “Yes, I’ve made mistakes and misinterpreted things before, but that was part of my growth and I have gained much experience over the years.”
“Well, both Lady Hariette and Tamrin happen to agree with my assessment,” his father replied. “And think of it, what better way for you to cement and announce our family’s coming alliance to the island populace, by the shared acclaim of saving the island from a dangerous rogue core?”
<>
Lily watched Agnetha sitting on the side of her father’s bed, his arm in her hands and two fingers on his pulse. He did look much better today, although his skin was still quite pale, and his breath laboured. Noticing her gaze on him, he gave her a tired smile and then focused back on Agnetha.
“Dane, you have improved overall, but now let’s look at that wound that caused all the trouble in the first place,” Agnetha spoke, motioning Lily over to come and assist her.
Together they lifted the light blanket, Agnetha adjusting her father’s leg slightly so they could get a better view of the dire rat’s bite. His leg, feverish to the touch, still appeared pink and swollen with ugly red stripes spreading from the bite wound. Agnetha inspected it critically, adjusting it from side to side and lightly pressing on certain spots.
“Here too there is much improvement,” she finally said. “But there is still some infection present and likely a build-up of impurities deeper within the wound.”
Turning to Lily, she continued, “we need to apply warm compresses to the area throughout the next few days, after which we can lance the infection, draining the pus. Once that is done, the wound should be able to heal further on its own. Lily, which herbs do you think should form part of our compresses?”
Dane looked at Agnetha with surprise.
“Yes, I have decided to take Lily on as my apprentice in herbology,” she answered Dane’s unvoiced question.
“Well, congratulations Lily! You are making me so proud.” Dane said weakly, with a pleased smile and shining eyes. Herbalism was a well-respected trade, ensuring a good future for Lily.
“Thank you, father,” Lily replied.
<>
Walking with Agnetha back to her hut, Agnetha silently shushed Lily with a motion as Lily opened her mouth to ask a question.
“We’ll talk about that when we have total privacy,” she commented with a knowing look. “For now, let’s focus on your new role as my apprentice.”
Lily nodded. After all, classifying as an herbalist in addition to her rogue class was necessary to create an effective alias like the one Agnetha had.
“Did you gain any levels from our discussion of warm compresses?”
“Yes, my herbalism skill was raised by one,” Lily replied.
“Good. So, our next goal is for you to gain four more skills to qualify you for the herbalist class. While we do that, we should also start gathering more resources. Having more means at our disposal will benefit your progress. Plus, as my new apprentice, we need to come to an agreement on appropriate compensation for my role as your mentor.”
Lily had a feeling she knew exactly where Agnetha planned for her to collect more resources. Excitement bubbled through her at the thought, and she had to force her steps to slow to keep pace with Agnetha’s hobbling progress.
<>
Lily sweated in the humid mid-morning heat as she led the newly-purchased donkey on which Agnetha rode through the jungle trails towards the new dungeon. The dungeon compass pointed steadily in one direction, but it was still slow going on the meandering jungle paths. Lily grimly thought of the cost of the donkey. She had been under the impression that the masters funded their apprentices, but apparently she was responsible for the costs of her own training. Also, Agnetha was entitled to 10% of whatever profit Lily made for as long as she remained Agnetha’s apprentice. Maybe that’s why Agnetha called herself a mentor instead of a master. Lily hoped the dungeon was profitable – she needed money.
Suddenly Agnetha pulled on the rope Lily was leading the donkey with, first holding a finger up to her lips and then cupping her ear with a hand. Alerted Lily surveilled their surroundings, noticing nothing and then she heard it too – the sounds of faint conversation, some distance away from them in the jungle vegetation. Surprised she looked at Agnetha. How was Agnetha able to hear that from so far away? How could her hearing still be this good at her age? Was this some kind of class perk?
Agnetha motioned her closer, whispering in her ear, “We’ve got two adventurers walking on a parallel path. I will wait here; you go practice your sneaking and spying skill. Sneak up on them – but not too close – and find out who they are and what their purpose is. Then report back to me. Don’t get caught!”
And with that she lightly shoved Lily in the direction of the voices. Lily nodded, secured the dungeon compass into her pouch, and then used her best sneaking know-how to blend into the underbrush.
<>
“But how are we even supposed to find this dungeon now? We only have the vaguest idea of where it probably should be located,” Tamrin said as she and Layne walked down a jungle path in the direction of the beach.
“You’re right, we don’t know exactly where it is. But that’s part of our job as adventurers – to explore and find things.”
“Come on, why are we wasting our time? As noble adventurers we have much better things to do with our time than aimlessly wasting our energy on a useless walk through the jungle. Why didn’t your family just get some of your workers to search for it? We could’ve been at your mansion, having a cool beverage out of this heat!”
“And risk someone else reaching the dungeon first? How can you be so blasé about the first team rewards?” Layne asked, feeling irritation rising in him. He did not understand how Tamrin could not be as excited as he was. To be the first one to find and enter a dungeon? That’s the very definition of adventuring!
Having heard all that she needed to hear, Lily turned to venture back into the thickness of the jungle, freezing as Tamrin spoke, “Wait, did you hear that?”
Lily froze, keeping her feet rigidly in the position they were. Both Layne and Tamrin had gone onto high alert, intently observing their surroundings.
After a moment Layne replied, “I don’t see or hear anything, must’ve been an animal in the vegetation.”
“Yes, most likely,” Tamrin concurred as they resumed walking.
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. That was close. As the distance between them increased, she slipped back into the jungle, not hearing Tamrin’s next words.
“How does that even matter? This is not a normal dungeon run, you know what we need to do. Whether we are the first or second or third makes no difference when we will be getting the greatest prize of all.”
<><><>
Character sheet summary at the end of Chapter 10
Claire
Type: Life-Mind
Level: 1
Integrity: 96%
Processing speed: 68%
Functional capacity: 49%
Progress to next level
-510/250 LF Performance provision
0/500 Dungeon Investment, consisting of:
0/≥125 LF
0/≥125 ME
16/250 Skill Share Value
Core defence enabled
Cutting thorn barrier
5 LF to initiate
Continuous drain of 10 LF per day
Resources available
Biomass: 146
Mental energy: 150
Raw material: 641
<>
Lily Hunter
Rogue Level 1
First-tier skills
Basic herbalism +1 → 2/20
Deception 2/20
Lock picking 5/20
Petty theft 1/20
Pick-pocketing 4/20
Quick thinking 2/20
Sneaking 8/20
Sleight of hand 2/20
Second-tier skills
Spying 0/50